Korean Job Discussion Forums

[World Traveler]

“The recent action of the McDonald’s chain in Flushing, New York, that drove away Korean elderly customers who stayed long hours is a clear sign of racial and age discrimination,” the Korean American Parents Association of Greater New York said in a statement.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140117000857

“Treating our senior citizens, or our parents’ generation, as criminals is an insult to Koreans as a whole. Our elderly citizens are the ones who have overcome the aftermath of the war and drove our nation to become one of the top ten economies in the world. They deserve respect,” the statement read.

[radcon]

Those people are delusional. Why would people in American give a scat whether or not elderly Koreans worked hard to improve Korea's economy to one of the top ten in the world? As many Koreans have told me " Korea is for Koreans but the USA is for anybody and everybody."

[northway]

[sligo]

Let's all go to kimbap nara and oorder a kimbap and stay for 12 hours!

[Ginormousaurus]

[Steelrails]

What we need are some strikebreakers, the kind they had in the 30s.

Although the elderly might be immune to the stories that don't go anywhere about needing a new heel for your shoe and tying an onion to your belt, which was the style at the time.

[byrddogs]

"Yet there seem to be no shortage of facilities that cater to the elderly in the neighborhood. Civic centers dot the blocks, featuring parlors for baduk, an Asian board game, and classes in subjects from calisthenics to English. Mr. Lee, who comes to the McDonald’s from Bayside, passes several senior centers en route. One is a Korean Community Service center in Flushing, which recently changed a room in the basement into a cafe with 25-cent coffee after its president, Kwang S. Kim, got word of the McDonald’s standoff.

No one has come."

So, there are other options, yet Ronald McDonald's is still the chosen place to loiter even after they have been asked to not do so many times. Nice.

[ghostrider]

A McDonald's in Indonesia would probably just put up "Sorry, No Koreans Allowed" signs. That's how businesses in tourist areas down there have dealt with annoying Korean customers. The US, however, has anti-discrimination laws.

[Stain]

[crescent]

[young_clinton]

[Smithington]

A group of Korean ajoshies camping out in your restaurant for ten hours a day, hacking, snorting, yell-talking, smacking their lips, blocking paths, bumping into people, talking down to wait staff, spitting into the ashtrays, clearing their throats, snorting, and all the rest. What's the problem? Sounds like a great work environment. I wouldn't want to work there. But the main issue is that there's a 20 minute rule that applies to everyone. Staying an extra five minutes or so won't bring on any undue attention. An extra half hour will. Two hours certainly will. And if the same people are doing it day after day, while making no monetary contribution to the restaurant, it becomes a police matter. It borders on trespassing. It is not a case of McDonalds being "anti-Korean". Any such group would come to the staff's attention. Koreans keep telling us that "Here is Korea" and "When in Rome...." Well, that works both ways, gentlemen. In the West rules (and signs) are taken seriously. No smoking means no smoking. A red light means stop. Twenty minutes means twenty minutes. If you are violating the latter rule to the extent that you are hurting business, and you've repeatedly ignored requests to adjust your behavior accordingly, then it becomes a police issue. It has nothing to due with you being Korean. (Believe me, the staff could care less what your ethnicity is. It's your behavior that's objectionable, not your skin tone.)

'Koreanness' is only a factor in the equation if one considers "why" these men are behaving like they are. "Here is not Korea" and boorish, lawless ajoshie behavior does not transfer well overseas. We've all heard stories of "No Koreans allowed" signs in various tourist locations in Asia. Instead of boycotting McDonalds, and inexplicably lecturing people about Korea's economic development, the area's Korean community should take a look in the mirror. Why are grown men acting in such a selfish manner? Does this reflect well on your community? Most importantly, would Korean restaurant owners tolerate such behavior from even a pack of teenage boys everyday? No, they wouldn't. They'd toss them on the street. So why should such behavior be tolerated from men old enough to know better?

I must admit that it's quite interesting that the Korean community plans to boycott McDonalds in February. The staff at the McDonalds in question are probably high fiving each other. Not only will they get rid of the annoying freeloaders for a month, but business will actually pick up because now paying customers will have somewhere to sit. They're probably wondering how they can get the Koreans to extend their boycott for a full year.

[Steelrails]

Given that its in Flushing, there is a fair chance that the McD's owner is Korean as well. Maybe there is some behind the scenes whathaveyou going on.

Back home, my Korean boss was required to make a "donation" to the Korean elderly group at the senior center. He found them cheap and picky and tacked on a gratuity at his own expense because he knew they wouldn't tip us. Everytime we asked him why he didn't tell them to piss off he just grumbled and mumbled something about the Korean Golf Association. The closest he ever got to it was requiring them to pick up their food instead of us delivering it.

[northway]

[kpjf]

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jan/18/lucy-mangan-pay-per-minute-cafe